Thursday, January 1, 2015

This will be the first ever joint blog from SPANKED and Gatherings. We felt this blog needed to be written to make our fashion lives just a little bit easier by hopefully convincing a few content creators to "get with the times". If after reading this blog you feel the same, then please forward the URL to all your friends and especially to the mesh body and implant makers of your choice.

Stacia: I am really excited to finally do a blog with you Shayna! I know you have a lot of experience creating in SL but you also have experience helping other creators, being that you are not exactly shy. LOL. Can you tell me about a time when you helped another creator?

Shayna: I'd be happy to. Back in October of 2011 I was shopping at Slink and picked up an awesome pair of shoes called Destiny Heels.

Stacia: Oh, I remember those. You made me go buy a pair and they were my favorites! They were sculpties right?

Shayna: Yes, the sculpt feet in the shoes were absolutely fantastic and I thought "WOW I wish someone made bare feet like this without the shoe." So I sent Siddean Munro (creator of Slink) a notecard requesting the feet only. She thought it was a great idea and soon she was offering a series of sculpt bare feet.

Stacia: No one had feet and ankles that blended like hers. They were revolutionary.

Shayna: Exactly. As predicted they became a huge hit and as you all know Siddean later went on to create the Slink mesh hands, feet, heads and body all of which became a huge success. To be honest I really don't know too many people who don't own one or more of these products.

Stacia: You are absolutely right! They just make our lives better, not to mention prettier.

Shayna: But..... there's a problem. Appliers! For designers like myself and Stacia to make appliers for Slink products we had to apply for permissions and the designer kit via the Slink website. Once we got the applier kits there is a process to making each applier and I must say it a massive pain in the ass.

Stacia: Agreed. To make stockings and gloves it isn't too arduous. But clothing, well it is simply harder than any other system. The thing is I really like the Slink body, but I find myself not creating for it perhaps as often as I should or would if it was a simpler system. Shayna, could you comment on the Mesh Project? I actually don't own it for reasons I am sure you can comment on.

Shayna: I was pretty impressed with the overall quality of the mesh heads offered by The Mesh Project or TMP for short when it first came out, but the price... WOW! At the time is was $5,000L for a head with facial expressions. I sent them a notecard explaining that the price was a little over the top and that eventually someone will come up with something just as good or better and for half the price. They told me that they thought the price point was good and had no plans on changing it. Well as I predicted less then a month later Slink released the Visage head series for half the price and was a huge success. But that's not the main issue here ;)

Stacia: Wow. I had forgotten about that. I have both Slink Visage heads and love them! So tell me more about the bodies.

Here we have Stacia on the left wearing the complete Slink mesh body, hands, feet and head with the new SPANKED Silk Line Skin. On the right Shayna is wearing the TMP body, hands and feet as well as a very fancy paper bag over her head because she refused to pay $5k for a head. She also did not apply her skins due to the third party server requirement of TMP.

Shayna: TMP bodies are also very high quality and for the top of the line version a bit over priced. But the main issue with this body is the applier system using a Third Party Server to upload your texture UUID's to in order to apply skins and clothing to the body. This is a ToS violation not to mention a major inconvenience for content creators.

Stacia: To clarify it is a ToS violation if the designer did not create the original template, even if they have modified it. Let's be honest, so many designers use templates designed by template makers. They may be heavily modified but they still cannot be given to others or uploaded onto a website.

Shayna: Yes, and I see that as a problem with their system. Convenient perhaps for customers of TMP to have access to all of their clothing in one HUD. But I am not willing to hand over my UUIDs to a website, regardless of how secure it is.

Stacia: That is my problem too. Which is why I have yet to buy anything from TMP. To be honest it was getting difficult and time consuming to create at least 12-15 appliers for all of the mesh bodies, boobs and butts for every piece of clothing I designed, and sometimes more because you know I am crazy with options! LOL

Shayna: So what do we propose you ask? Well Omega Appliers by Love-N-Lust set out to make applying textures to mesh a universal system that makes it easier for designers and customers alike. No more packing 20 or more appliers into a single outfit. No more cluttering up your inventory with all the appliers accumulated from your clothes shopping. Omega is here and THANK GOODNESS!!!

Stacia: But some mesh designers are still not onboard with Omega? Why? Don't they want what's best for their customers?

Shayna: Well we think it's time for you to speak out. Contact your favorite designers like Slink and TMP and ask them to work with Omega. It's a win win situation for everyone.

About Me

Gatherings Fine Designs came about after much floundering in sl. As in rl we all need to find ourselves, learn, grow and move on. It has been more than SIX year in Second Life, and I have definitely found my passion. My and my partners love for having friends over is the origin for my store name, Gatherings, which started as a furniture store, grew into accessories, and then clothing! My goal still remains to provide great furniture and clothing for all of your Gatherings, whether an intimate occasion or a big party! Check it out! Mwah!